Ranger In the Box: A Simple Tale
by dtm666
Summary: Jason is trapped in endless sleep as he is forced to endure nightmare after nightmare.


Ranger In The Box: A Simple Tale  
Written by DTM666

Disclaimer: The author of this piece would like to state that Power Rangers is owned by BVS Entertainment Inc and not the author.

Note: This "simple tale" takes place during the late-first season of MMPR. It's a longer piece than the first "Simple Tale", but it's generally the same... and yes, the title makes no sense.

---

The battle began routinely enough; after being briefed by Zordon of a disturbance downtown, the Power Rangers morph and arrive at the town square, where a cloaked wizard floated in the sky as the people cried and ran in fear of what this mysterious foe was capable of. He turned his attention towards the arriving Rangers, who did their taunts and pre-battle poses. Soon enough, the wizard made the first move and shot the Red Ranger, sending him flying until he hit the wall of a building.

Jason Lee Scott, aforementioned Red Ranger, momentarily blacked out for a moment and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the wizard was gone and in his place was a massive dragonbeast capable of breathing power flames. The other Rangers had a hard time with the monster, as they were unable to penetrate the creature's outer shell. Regaining the strength to fight on, Jason broke from his trance and ran towards the monster, summoning his signature Power Sword along the way. Before long, lightning from above struck the beast, making him grow.

The wizard emerged in crimson light on the roof of the Imperial building, looking on as the monstrous dragonbeast delivered a fierce blow to the chest of the Rangers' Megazord, causing a massive explosion to erupt. He could see the pieces of twisted, melting metal tearing of the massive armorplate and flying across the smaller buildings and structures below, practically destroying them or causing significant structural damage with each piece of debris collision. The cloaked being looked on as the battle raged further until the Megazord summoned their sword, which flew through the clouds and impaled itself onto the wreckage of a destroyed tower. The Megazord, its battle damage evident, slowly limped towards the sword and pulled it out. It approached the monstrous beast and raised its sword into the air, bolts of lightning striking it and causing it to glow. With one swift motion, the Megazord struck the beast with the sword and the one blow caused the beast to tumble and explode in flames.

The Megazord, triumphant over Repulsa's latest creation, turned towards the cloaked wizard and approached him. From its head, a beam of energy shot at the wizard, who managed to block the beam with his staff. When the beam dissipated, the Megazord froze in its track and soon smaller explosions erupted all over. The Megazord turned to find another dragonbeast firing several shots at them. Once again, the Rangers did battle with the monster. And once again, the ferocious fighting had caused much havoc in the city and the surrounding builds were obliterated as a result. After five minutes of fighting, what was once a beautiful city filled with skyscrapers and abandoned warehouse districts had become a flaming wreck, with not one single building left standing.

The Megazord had managed to inflict sufficient harm to the dragonbeast, incapacitating it enough to inflict the final blow and send this monster back to Finster's claypen. However, just as the Megazord was about to raise its sword, its backside was suddenly covered in explosions and pieces of outer armor was chipping away. Another barrage of explosions disarmed the Megazord as it inadvertently dropped its sword. In the cockpit, the Rangers were rocked by the constant impacts of projectiles.

"What was that?!" Jason shouted.

"That didn't come from the monster," Billy replied, "It came from a tank!"

In shock, the Rangers bobbed their heads downwards as they saw several army tanks fire heavy shells at the Megazord, each shell exploding on impact and actually making a dent towards the mighty mech, causing it to recoil a step back. The armies weren't just firing at the Rangers, but also at the monster, who was startled by this sudden offensive that a shell managed to impale itself in the creature's neck. Once the creature had fallen and exploded, all firepower turned towards the Rangers, whom were in shock and utter confusion as to how and why the United States army would suddenly turn on them.

"We've got to retreat, Jason!" Trini called to the Red Ranger. "We'll only make things worse!"

Jason didn't like to run away, but Trini was right. The monster was destroyed and these people clearly didn't want them around. With the duty done, the Megazord began its march away from the city, where several tanks continued to fire their high-impact explosive shells at the massive robot. The tanks continued firing until the Megazord was out of their range. Then the tanks slowly followed the Megazord, whose occupants were seemingly unaware of their stalkers. One of the ten tanks following the Megazord got trigger-happy and fired a shell at the right leg of the Megazord, shattering it on impact. Before long, the Megazord slowly tipped over to the ground with a sickening thud that sent a wave of dust at the tanks. The tank fired several more shells at the fallen zord.

"This isn't good!" Zack cried, "We've got to get out of here and get back to the Command Center on foot!"

"Right!" Jason agreed reluctantly, "Abandon Megazord!"

Breaking through the cockpit glass, the Rangers leapt out of the fallen Megazord and as soon as they landed, they broke into a run towards the Command Center, which was just close by. After running several miles, the Rangers stopped and took one final glance at the Megazord, just seconds before the final explosive shell did sufficient damage for the whole Zord to explode in flames. The Rangers mourned their loss - this was the second time they had to suffer such a great loss - but right now, they had to get back to the Command Center.

---

Standing in front of the Command Center, the wizard smiled. Raising his staff to the sky, which had suddenly turned dark, he summon a bolt of lightning to create a hole in the outer structure. In seconds, he found himself staring into the heart of the Center and within the column of light was the image of Zordon of Eltare. The robot assistant who aided Zordon was clearly in hiding, although that isn't the Wizard's concern. Almost calmly, he stepped onto what the Rangers considered holy ground, the defense mechanism to keep out intruders having been destroyed. Before long, the wizard stood in the center circle of the command chamber and locked eyes with Zordon's spectral form.

"So, great Eltarean, we meet at last."

"Yes," Zordon uttered, "Indeed we do."

Beneath his cloak, the scale-skinned wizard smiled wickedly and held firmly onto his staff with both hands, the pointy end facing the floor. He began chanting in an alien language unfamiliar to Zordon. The chanting seemed to go on for eternity until the Power Rangers, battered and scarred from battle, looked on in shock at the wizard chanting his spell. Before anyone could make a move, the wizard thrust his staff through the floor of the Command Center and from it shot several beams of lightning all over the place. Everything touched by a bolt either caught flames or instantly exploded and the Command Center seemed like it was about to blow apart. Jason made a leap at the wizard, who extended his open palm at the Red Ranger and fired a concentrated blast of energy that knocked Jason to the ground. Jason regained his bearings and saw the wizard holding out his hand to the other Rangers and shooting a white blast at them.

---

"NO!" Jason shouted out, but soon found himself not in the Command Center as it went up in flames, but rather in his bedroom, sitting upright in his bed. Jason looked down and saw himself not in the Red Ranger outfit, but in red boxer shorts and a white top covered in bedsheets. It took a short moment for the realization to hit Jason and suddenly, he eased up and wiped the sweat off his forehead. It was only a nightmare... a painfully realistic nightmare in Jason's opinion, but a nightmare nonetheless.

Jason glanced momentarily at the clock and saw that it was almost time for a quick shower before heading for classes, but it was still dark outside when there should be a sun setting. A suspicious Jason jumped out of his bed, slipped on the communicator that had been laying on his nightstand, and walked towards the window. He pulled back the curtains and looked ahead at the outside with a sick feeling in his stomach. Outside, he saw several army tanks positioned on the streets, which were littered with skeletal remains, rotting corpses, and other images Jason couldn't get himself to study further. In the backdrop of this already repugnant image stood the crumbling city of Angel Grove, which had seemed to suffer from a massive firefight.

Everything seemed wrong for Jason until he noticed a quick flash of light from the city that was quickly followed by a small, but growing column of light. As the column grew, everything it touched was quickly and instantly destroyed. Jason frantically tried to get in contact with Zordon or the other Rangers, but could get no response. With no other option, Jason quickly pressed the teleport button and just as quickly vanished in red light.

When Jason rematerialized, he had expected to find himself in the command center. Instead, he found himself standing atop a rocky plateau with skulls and skeletal remains scattered about. Jason glanced beyond the plateau and saw several hulks that appeared to be remains of army tanks, overshadowed by a bigger metallic hulk. Upon further study, Jason's jaw dropped as he recognized the ruins as the remains of the Megazord. He slowly took a couple of steps back until he was backed to an iron spike. Jason slowly turned around to see the spike, which was impaled to the ground, and slowly tilted his head upwards.

Much to his utter horror, he found the rotting corpse of a Power Ranger hanging on the very top of the spike, with his hands literally nailed to the spike. He couldn't tell which one it was, as the suit was stripped of its color and was just a rotting red haze. Slowly he made a couple steps back until his field of vision included two more Rangers at the sides. He just as slowly turned his body to find more hanging Ranger suits. Jason could count as much as eight Rangers hanging on spikes, including a couple he didn't recognize. Jason dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands, unaware of the column of light that was almost reaching the plateau.

The shrieking of burning metal ripping apart was what broke Jason from his trance and he turned to face the column of light. He stood there on the plateau until the column enveloped the Ranger corpses and eventually, himself. He screamed as the extreme pain shot through his body, which was slowly burning up.

---

"NO!" Jason shouted out, but soon found himself in his bedroom, sitting upright in his bed. He checked himself out for injuries, only to find none. It took a short moment for the realization to hit Jason - he's been in this situation before. He glanced to his clock and saw that it was still late at night, but that wasn't enough to convince Jason. Crawling out of his bed, Jason sprinted towards the window and pulled open the curtains. Much to his relief, everything outside looked peaceful and the city looked to be in one piece.

Still, Jason wasn't easily convinced by the visual proof presented before him, so he plucked his communicator from his nightstand and quickly pressed the teleport button, vanishing in red light. When he materialized, he found himself in the Command Center, which was dimly lit but otherwise in perfect working order. Jason veered his attention towards the Viewing Globe, only to find the globe missing. Instead, Jason found the Rangers in morphed form, aiming the Power Blaster directly at him. Jason tried to call them off, but found he had no voice. Just as the thought of stepping away crossed his mind, the Rangers fired their blaster and the five beams struck Jason in the chest, almost incinerating him on contact.

---

"NO!" Jason shouted out, but soon found in his bedroom, sitting upright in his bed. Jason looked down and saw that he was in perfect health, not showing any burn marks or any other signs of almost being burnt alive. At this point, Jason was fed up with this. He checked out the windows and saw the city in one piece. He checked the clock and saw it to be the correct time. He reached for his communicator and teleported to the Command Center, where he found it to be dimly-lit, but still operating normally. Despite all this, Jason wasn't convinced.

"Zordon, I have a problem," Jason began. Before he could continue, the column of light glowed brightly and Zordon's spectral image appeared.

"_Is there something wrong, Jason?_" the sage asked, "_You look a little tense._"

Jason let a sigh of relief. "It's good to see you're alright. I've had this strange dream and-"

Jason stopped himself when he turned and saw that the Viewing Globe was missing and in its place was the wizard that had started this cycle of nightmares. Instinctively, Jason pulled out his Power Morpher out of nowhere (and really, out of nowhere - he was still in his boxers) and made the morphing call. As soon as he was in the guise of the Red Ranger, Jason brandished the Power Sword and gave it a quick glance. The sword's blade glowed with red energy and just as quickly, Jason tossed it at the wizard, who stood there. The sword managed to fly through the wizard's chest. Jason looked on as the wizard simply vanished into thin air.

Jason shook his head. "It can't be that easy."

"You're right, Red Ranger," the wizard's voice growled, "It's not that easy!"

Jason turned to find the wizard standing behind him. From the wizard's staff shot several bolts of lightning, which Jason manage to avoid with an elevated backflip that cleared some distance between the two. When Jason landed, he saw that he was no longer in the Command Center, but was in an endless void with a grey sky and a floor completely covered in fog too dense to see through. Jason immediately pulled out his Blade Blaster and fired several shots at the wizard, who skillfully blocked several of the beams with his staff and dodged the rest. Jason shifted the blaster to dagger mode and made a leap at the wizard, who just as quickly teleported out of the way and behind the landing Red Ranger. The wizard swung his staff at Jason, but Jason was quick to avoid the attack and counter with a punch to the lower abdomen, causing the wizard to stagger back a step. Jason once again held his blade blaster and swung it at the wizard, who raised his staff to block the blow. The daggerized blaster made contact with the wizard's staff, shattering the alien weapon on the moment of impact.

Without his main weapon, the wizard was slowly losing power. Jason placed the blaster back in its holster and picked up the sword which had been laying on the ground. Holding the sword overhead, Jason dashed at the wizard with incredible speed. Once in range, he swung the sword downward and saw the blade cut through the ragged cloak of the wizard. Just as quickly, the cloak erupted in flames and the wizard screamed in agony before falling down and exploding into nothing. Jason was victorious and was soon enveloped in white light.

---

Jason's eyes slowly opened up and saw a black ceiling. He could hear muffled voices, but didn't recognize them at first until they started to sound much clearer. A quick glance around the place revealed that Jason was lying on a biobed in the Command Center. When he slowly got to a sitting position, he was immediately surrounded by the four Power Rangers, all of whom bore concerned or worried facial expressions for his well-being.

"What happened?" Jason asked, "How did I get here?"

"The wizard seemed to be a more formidable opponent than we've realized," Billy explained, "He had subjected you to a potent spell that subjected its victim to continuous nightmarish visions and keeps them in that state."

"Say what?" added an obviously confused Kimberly.

"It gives them many bad dreams," Trini said, "But it's over now."

Jason sighed. "Is it, Trini?"

"What do you mean 'Is it, Trini?'" Tommy blurted out from behind the crowd of Rangers, "Aw man, my feeling are so hurt, man."

Jason smiled and let out a sigh of relief as he heard the voice of the Green Ranger, confirming his belief that his current surroundings was, indeed, real. That was the only thing that convinced him easily that he wasn't dreaming anymore, but he didn't say it out loud. They don't need to be burdened with any more of his bad dreams.

"Forget it, bro," Jason added, "I'm just fine."

THE END


End file.
